Disaster Response Forum 2015 – speaker: Simon Lewis

His team work with British Red Cross volunteers and staff and liaise externally with Government, Police, Fire, Ambulance, Local Authorities and other partner agencies to ensure that the British Red Cross are in the best position to support them in an emergency.

Formerly Simon spent over 30 years as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). In his last five years with the police he was Chief Superintendent, Head of Emergency Preparedness at New Scotland Yard. During this time Simon chaired the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel. Lewis was a strategic and tactical commander for public order and major/emergency events, assuming the responsibilities of Gold or Silver Commander. He spent a period of time as Silver Commander for the London Bombings on July 7, 2005 and was also Silver Commander for the consequence management strand following the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, which triggered a major public health emergency across London with over 50 contaminated locations.

Lewis spent five years as Head of MPS Emergency Preparedness in London. This included business continuity, emergency planning, crisis management and cross-business group co-ordination. It also included the MPS strategic link with the London Resilience Team (LRT) and London Resilience Partnership. During this time he chaired the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel (LESLP).